The Holiday
by clareabell7
Summary: AU "More than anything else I want you to live. Don't stop living just because I did. Make my time on this Earth worth wile. Smile, be happy, and find someone who loves you just as much as I do." After the loss of his beloved sister Ludwig Beilschmidt thinks he will never be the same. Until a little Italian gives him a reason to smile again.


It was raining. Well, of course it was raining. That was general funeral protocol.

Ludwig turned toward the window, watching the raindrops cascade down the elegant stained glass.

Maybe it was the sky doing Ludwig a favor; shedding his tears for him.

At some point, crying seemed to become too trivial, too expected. People would shed their tears and move on. Crying meant acceptance, and healing. And there was no way that Ludwig was going to accept _this._

Crying didn't do his pain justice.

So, he was content to accept the sky's favor as it continued to shed the tears he could not seem to produce.

Slowly, he tore his eyes away from the window, as people began to express their condolences.

"_She was so young…"_ They would say.

"_So full of life…"_

"_Such a bright future…"_

"_Such a wonderful girl…"_

"_I'm so sorry…"_

Ludwig nodded, he was sorry too, probably more sorry than any of these people. In truth, he just wanted them all to go away. He didn't care that they were sorry, it didn't make any difference.

They were all accepting this. They would shed their tears and move on.

Greta deserved more than this.

Where were they when everything that mattered happened; when she was alive to hear their praise?

Where were they when she was sick, and needed to know people cared about her?

He never once did see any of these people visit.

They didn't even know her.

Still they sat there with tears falling from their eyes.

It was all fake.

They were just following general funeral protocol.

Some _family _they were.

Ludwig allowed himself to relax as the only two people he really cared to see stood by him.

"I've always hated funerals." Alfred's voice was low, and absent of his usual optimistic twang.

Ludwig nodded, glad that someone understood.

"It's wrong," He continued "People always wait to say how wonderful a person was until the funeral. Where the hell were they when she was around to listen?"

"Pointless." Ludwig heard Arthur mumble.

Ludwig stayed silent, hoping that they wouldn't walk away.

They were the only ones who understood, the only ones who weren't crying.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

Ludwig's eyes fell on Greta's smiling portrait.

She was so happy, so carefree. Her blue eyes shone with some unobtainable joy, filled with a kind of optimistic glee that only she seemed to possess.

She believed that things would get better, until the very end.

Sixteen years wasn't enough time. She still had so much good left to do.

"_If it wasn't this, it'd be something else, Ludi_." She would say with a smile.

God he wished it was something else.

He was her big brother, the doctor, the fixer. He was supposed to take care of her.

He could see her now, rushing down the stairs, ready to greet him after a long day at work. No matter how many patients he lost, or how wrong things went, he could always count on little Greta to set things right. Greta knew him, understood him, and for as young as she was, she always knew what to say.

She wasn't perfect, but she tried to be. And he had yet to meet someone who tried as hard as she did.

She always did the right thing, always reminded Ludwig to do the right thing.

What was he going to do?

"Oh…God." Ludwig whispered, as a wave grief crashed over him.

"Ludwig?"

Arthur's voice snapped him back into reality.

He cleared his throat. "Hm."

"It's over." Arthur whispered the words, knowing that they said so much more than he meant.

They say that before you die your life flashes before your eyes.

Ludwig could feel a part of him slipping away, as memories flashed before his eyes.

Holding a baby Greta, promising to protect her. Promising to be the father he never had.

"_You will be happy, I promise."_

Going away to medical school, and taking her with him.

"_We'll have a new life, Greta. You'll see."_

Her first day of school.

"_I'm gonna be just like you, Ludi!"_

Dancing in the kitchen.

Listening to her play the guitar.

Staying in, watching movies.

Chasing off boys who dared as his baby sister on a date.

The last things she ever said to him.

"_I'll smile enough for the both of us."_

"_You know I love you."_

"_If it wasn't this it'd be something else."_

"_I'm okay, Ludi. I'm okay."_

…

Ludwig blinked, his eyes still resting on her smiling portrait.

Turning away, he whispered. "Yes, it's over."

And he'd never be the same again.

-Hello, and thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm really excited to write this story, and I would love to hear some feed-back! As always, have a nice day :)-


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